Silas Kopf was walking down Main Street when a streak of white stone caught his eye on the dark brick side of Old Town Hall. As the Daily Hampshire Gazette reported in September, it was the marble plaque put up in 1869 to honor the Easthampton residents who died in the Civil War. It was chipped and cracked, and its lettering had faded. Kopf owns a studio in the city, and he donated enough to CitySpace to restore it.
Vitek Kruta of VK Restoration finished the work in early September. His team repaired cracks in the marble and the brick behind it, rebuilt the missing pieces, and repainted the lettering. Six of the names belong to people who died at the Andersonville prison camp, and two of them were named Clark. Michael Tautznik, CitySpace's treasurer and a former Easthampton mayor, told the Gazette that the north tower holding the plaque is itself dedicated to soldiers lost in the Civil War.
The plaque is done. The rest of the building at 43 Main St. is in the middle of a long rebuild, and this is the season when residents can see the most important room in it before it changes.
The room upstairs has waited since the early 2000s
Old Town Hall served as Easthampton's town hall from 1869 to 2003. Its second floor holds a large hall with a raised stage, high ceilings, stained-glass windows and a mahogany balcony. The Gazette described it in 2024 as the room that once hosted Town Meetings, performances and policemen's balls. It has sat unused since the early 2000s because it lacked accessibility and didn't meet code.
A second-floor hall that people can't reach without stairs can't reopen to the public. Before anyone can rebuild the room, the building needs a way to get people up to it.
Three phases, and the middle one is finishing
CitySpace is a nonprofit formed in 2006 to preserve and manage Old Town Hall. The city still owns the building. In 2019, CitySpace signed a 40-year lease with Easthampton so the major renovation could move forward. The project has been split into three phases:
| Phase | What it covers | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|
| Phase I | New HVAC and electrical systems, plus infrastructure for high-voltage power | Completed in 2023, according to CitySpace |
| Phase II | Elevator serving all four floors, an accessible entrance, and the stained-glass window work | Ground broken July 15, 2025; elevator expected to finish by mid-October, pending state elevator inspections |
| Phase III | Rebuilding the second floor as a flexible, accessible 350-seat venue | The board hopes to secure the last of the funding needed to start construction in 2027; the work is expected to take about two years |
Keiter Builders is the Phase II contractor, and Kuhn Riddle Architects designed it. By December 2025, scaffolding surrounded the elevator addition, and conservator Glenn Shalan had removed the building's 25-foot stained-glass window from inside. In its May 2026 construction update, CitySpace reported that the basement structural work was complete and the Otis elevator system was being installed. The update said a historic stained-glass window was being restored "for reinstallation as a backlit feature in the new addition, visible from Main Street."
In mid-September, Tautznik told the Gazette that elevator construction was "likely to finish by mid-October, depending on state elevator inspections." If you take the tour, it's a good question to ask. Whether the elevator has passed inspection decides whether the second floor can be reached without stairs.
The money for the last phase is coming together
Phase III is the expensive one. In February 2026, CitySpace was named to receive $3.5 million in congressionally directed federal spending, part of $124.58 million announced by U.S. Sen. Ed Markey for 116 projects across Massachusetts. MassLive reported in March that the earmark is slated for the third phase. That work includes removing asbestos from the ceiling, adding restrooms, restoring the stained-glass windows, upgrading the sprinkler system, and building a 350-person space that can be reset with risers or a stage.
According to the same report, the three phases were expected to total about $10.9 million as of March 2026. The two-year-old preliminary estimate for Phase III alone was $6.5 million, and the final number won't be firm until the work goes out to public bid. The board was also applying for $1 million from a state bond bill. In September, Tautznik said an architect would likely need to take another look at the plans, and that more fundraising would likely start once Phase II wraps up.
The size matters because of what's already downstairs. CitySpace's first-floor Blue Room holds 100 people seated or 230 standing. A 350-seat hall upstairs would make Old Town Hall a larger venue than it is now, and MassLive reported that CitySpace sees that capacity as a sweet spot for touring acts and a size that's unusual in the region.
Why this fall's tours show something the finished hall won't
The second-floor plan described in Gazette coverage of the 2025 groundbreaking adds a box office, a green room, offices, storage, flexible seating and staging, acoustic and theater systems, and ceiling work. It also calls for removing asbestos and replicating the historic moldings. Once that work starts, the room changes for good. New systems go in, the ceiling comes apart, and the space gets divided around backstage functions.
Right now the hall is still the room where Town Meeting met. You can see the stage, the balcony and the windows without any seating risers, theater systems or new partitions around them. CitySpace's free tours of the second floor cover the building's history and its current and upcoming restoration projects. The tour runs 4 to 7 p.m. on the first Saturday of the month, and the Easthampton City Arts listing shows it repeating through Dec. 5, 2026.
Fitting it into this Saturday, Nov. 7
The tour is part of Easthampton's Art Walk, and this Saturday it overlaps with the first day of Eastworks Open Studios. Here's one way to spend the day:
- Late morning at Eastworks, 116 Pleasant St. Eastworks Open Studios runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday across four floors of artists, makers and small businesses. It's free, with free parking in front of and behind the building. The Easthampton Skate Club Makers Market runs in the same building from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday.
- 4 p.m. at Old Town Hall, 43 Main St. Take the second-floor tour, then stay in the building. Musician David Clark Carroll leads the free CitySpace Bluegrass jam, Pickers, Singers & Strummers, from 4 to 7 p.m. CitySpace also lists a Tiny Pop-Up Market and Andrew Maurer's 100% Organic at the ECA Gallery. Big Red Frame runs the Elusie Gallery in the same building.
- On the way out, the north tower. The restored Civil War plaque is on the outside wall, facing Main Street.
- Before 7 p.m. on Cottage Street. The opening reception for Recent Works by Stephanie Vignone runs 4 to 7 p.m. at Oxbow Art Gallery, 40 Cottage St.
The weekend has events on both ends. On Friday, Nov. 6, Easthampton City Arts presents Twilight Blues at Marigold, with Little House Blues and Misty Blues, from 6:30 to 10 p.m. at Marigold Theater, 84 Cottage St. On Sunday, Nov. 8, CitySpace holds a volunteer building cleanup at Old Town Hall from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The following weekend brings the Blue Room back into use. John Feffer performs his one-man show The President on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 15 at 3 p.m. If you miss Saturday's tour, the next listed one is Dec. 5.
Getting an elevator into a building that's 157 years old, without losing its moldings or stained glass, is the kind of problem I think about every time I walk through an older Pioneer Valley house. I built my own home, and I'm always glad to talk through what a careful renovation phase looks like on a smaller scale. If you're weighing that kind of project on your own place, Shelly Hardy would be happy to help. Schedule a free consultation.
